Updated 9:00 pm, Wednesday, March 16, 2005

Go see Edgado Brito, who is advancing the practice of pet plastic surgery in a land with a worldwide reputation for making people beautiful by any means.

Brazilians have long been known for their penchant for cosmetic surgery, and Brito has been adapting those techniques for use on animals.

"Plastic surgery is good for dogs!" said Brito, 45, a Doberman breeder who has worked as a veterinarian for 20 years.

He can make protruding ears droop and uses Metacril to straighten bent ears. He uses Botox to fix inverted eyelashes. He has even tightened the mammillae of a couple of female dogs, whose owners wanted to show them after they had given birth.

Simple surgeries usually cost from about $100 to $200.

In Brazil, the United States and Europe, pet plastic surgery is increasingly in demand, despite objections from animal rights activists and some dog breeders.

The American Kennel Club, which sets the rules for the recognized breeds on the U.S. dog-show circuit, prohibits any surgery that alters a dog's appearance, other than the cropping of ears and tails to meet breed standards.

But the prohibition on surgery is difficult to define and enforce. Two years ago, an award-winning Pekingese in Britain was the subject of an inquiry when rumors swirled that its face had been surgically enhanced. The dog and its owners were acquitted and allowed to keep the award from the 2003 Crufts Dog Show.

In Brazil, Brito keeps abreast of human plastic-surgery trends and attends human surgeries to develop treatments for his pet patients. He's performed thousands of operations.

Brito says animal health is his top concern, but beauty also is important to the animal's well-being. Brito said that if the owner thinks the dog is attractive, the relationship is better.

"Good symmetry is very important," Brito said. "All that is not symmetric we don't like."

One of Brito's more famous patients is Brutus, a miniature schnauzer imported to Brazil from Argentina. He is gray, sleek and muscular and perfectly groomed.

"Brutus was perfect in all details," said his owner Anita Alt, except for one. One ear, thanks to a bad ear job from another veterinarian, flopped open. Fearing infection and hoping to show and breed Brutus, Alt turned to Brito five years ago. The doctor injected a substance used to eliminate human wrinkles into the base of Brutus' ear, which straightened instantly.

"No trauma, and you can see the results immediately," said Alt, who breeds mini schnauzers. Brutus became a grand champion, retired early, and now lives a happy life as a handsome stud in Sao Paulo.